Hundreds of buffalo drown in desperate attempt to escape lions

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Rhys Scott-Dawkins of Endless Summer Tours was visiting the Kruger National Park with four Canadian tourists who had never seen a wild lion before. They all witnessed something spectacular, as two lions stalked and killed a warthog. They were very lucky, as it’s rare to even see something like this in person, let alone catch it on camera! Credit: YouTube/EndlessSummerTours

More than 400 buffaloes believed to have been chased by lions drowned in a river in northern Botswana this week, the government said. Picture: Simone MichelettiSource:AFP

HUNDREDS of buffalo have drowned in a river in southern Africa in a desperate attempt to escape a pride of lions.

While they avoided the nasty fate of being torn to pieces at the hands of the predators, their efforts to escape ended in mass carnage of a different kind.

The drowning occurred in the Chobe River on the border of Namibia and Botswana earlier this week with more than 400 buffaloes unable to successfully cross the water.

More than 400 buffaloes believed to have been chased by lions drowned in a river in northern Botswana this week, the government said. Picture: Simone MichelettiSource:AFP

Investigations by authorities in both countries “suggest that an exceptionally large buffalo herd was grazing in Namibia when they stampeded into the Chobe River,” Botswana’s Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism said in a statement.

“Initial indications are that they were being chased by a pride of lions,” it said.

“It is estimated that more than 400 animals drowned due to the massive movement of buffalo trampling, and falling from steep river banks.”

Hundreds of dead buffaloes in the Chobe river in northern Botswana. Picture: Simone MichelettiSource:AFP

The bank on the Namibian side of the river was too high for the buffalo to scale, authorities said.

The Serondela Lodge in Namibia posted a video of the dead buffalo on its Facebook page Thursday.

“They drowned after who knows how long and through how much panic, stress and pain,” the lodge said.

The Lodge, which opened in March 2018, faces the Chobe National Park which is located in Botswana on the other side of the Chobe river. The area is famous for being a major “elephant corridor as well as a place where lions hunt their prey, according to the Lodge’s website.

Buffalo river drownings are not uncommon in the region, but the numbers are usually small.

Namibia said the buffalo meat would be donated to the local community and carcasses were being collected.